Skip to content

Were there no hostility, war would be impossible,
Hadst thou no lust, obedience to the law could not be
Hadst thou no concupiscence there could be no abstinence
Where no antagonist exists, what need is there of armies?

— Rumi Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)

Another quote →

More quotes by Rumi

Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:
Every success depends upon focusing the heart.

The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.

The branch might seem like the fruit's origin:
In fact, the branch exists because of the fruit.

If you wish to shine like day, burn up the night of self-existence. Dissolve in the Being who is everything.

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.

All Rumi quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Rumi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.